Reviews & Scores
The ruby-black, unctuously-textured 2007 Hillside Select is a large-scaled wine, even by the standards of this extravagant cuvée. It bursts from the glass with ripe aromas of kirsch, cassis, blueberries, charcoal and subtle woodsmoke. On the palate the acids are fresh, and the wine's vast volume is nicely balanced out by mid-palate depth. This seems to bear a close kinship to the Rubenesque 2002 vintage, and is a real success in that paradigm. (WK) - DC
DC94
This won't be out until next year and will mark 25 years of Hillside Select. Nice aromas of mint, mineral, dark fruits, and delicious currants. Full bodied, with a soft beginning that just builds and builds. This is muscular and toned, very impressive. Save your money to get plenty of this. Thought provoking wine. - JS
JS97
Saturated bright ruby. Very deep, dark, almost liqueur-like aromas of cassis, black cherry, cocoa powder and mocha. A huge, chocolatey-ripe wine with an obvious warmth and compelling sweetness to its fine-grained cherry liqueur and dark berry flavors. Big but harmonious tannins spread out to saturate the entire palate on the very long back end. This wine is just now embarking on its plane of peak maturity and will probably remain there for quite some time. Some critics of flamboyantly ripe Napa Cabernets may find this wine a bit extreme (as is the case with numerous other 2007s) yet it manages to retain its balance--and its depth of fruit is extraordinary. (ST) - VM
VM95
Deep purple-black colored, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select exudes beautiful notions of violets, dark chocolate, black olives, spice cake and cedar chest with a core of crème de cassis, blackberry pie, plum preserves and fragrant earth plus a waft of unsmoked cigars. Full-bodied, super concentrated and jam-packed with multilayered black and blue fruits, it has a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long with tons of exotic spice and savory sparks. (LPB) - WA
WA100